Unofficial summary. This is a community summary of the town's official minutes, provided so the record is searchable and readable. It condenses the meeting and may omit detail. Some private individuals’ personal details have been left out. The official signed PDF is the complete record of authority.
The Zoning Board of Appeals met on Thursday, August 6, 2026 at the Town Hall, 290 Northline Drive, Melrose. Present: Rich Geddis and Lettie Saheim. Absent: Chairman Ed McDonough, Nick Bayly, and Jay Shover. Clerk Elizabeth Hale and Town Attorney David Brennan were present. There were no public hearings, and without a quorum the July 2 minutes were held for review at the September meeting.
New application: backyard chickens in a Hamlet District
Matthew Dolan of Bickford Road, Pleasantdale, submitted an application to the Town Clerk for an area variance to allow the keeping of chickens in a Hamlet District at his address. Mr. Dolan did not appear.
Foxvog dog grooming & daycare: written determination, tentatively accepted (Tax Map #71.10-1-1)
Applicant Megan Foxvog, proposed owner Karla Foxvog, and Emileigh Putnam were present, with land surveyor Jacob Keasbey representing the applicant. The minutes recap the matter’s path: a July 2 public hearing, a July 20 continued hearing and deliberation, and the board’s conclusion that the proposed dog grooming and doggie daycare at the Scriven Press building, 100 Eastover Road, is properly classified as a personal service shop, a permitted use in a Hamlet District. Attorney Brennan drafted the Notice of Determination the board had requested.
The board reviewed the written decision with the applicant. Two changes of note came out of that review:
- Saturday hours will be included in the decision, at Ms. Foxvog’s request.
- Parking signage marking the lot as client-only was discussed, and Attorney Brennan offered to speak with the highway department about street signage.
With only two members present, the board tentatively accepted the decision, on Attorney Brennan’s suggestion; he will seek member Nick Bayly’s approval by email, and formal adoption and ratification is set for the September meeting. Motion (to tentatively grant the use, as a personal service shop): Geddis · Second: Saheim · Ayes: Geddis, Saheim · Nays: None. Mr. Geddis signed and dated the decision, copies of which go to the Rensselaer County Bureau of Planning and Development and the Planning Board.
The meeting adjourned at 7:29 p.m.
The minutes style the motion as tentatively granting a “use variance”; the determination itself, as the minutes also state, is a classification of the use as a personal service shop. Our coverage of the July 20 deliberation has the background, and the Planning Board’s follow-on public hearing is on the notices board. This summary is unofficial; the town’s PDF is the record.
Approved minutes: the town has replaced its draft with the approved version, and the link above points to that copy.
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